2026 Pitlochry, Achiltibuie and Spean Bridge

This year saw us in new-ish territory. Although we had stayed in nearby places like Glen Canisp and Point of Stoer in previous years, the coast of the Coigach area was new to us. It’s remote and sparely populated, with a view of the Summer Isles dominating the coast. Some of us had wanted to go even further north to Durness again, but the preferred accommodation, Balnakiel was already booked. We had bagged all of the Munros in the far north of Scotland, so any new summits would be completing the Corbetts in the Assynt area. However this is a spectacular region and there is plenty of scope for hiking without climbing hills.

We (really Gordon) chose to travel via Edinburgh with a few nights in Pitlochry because we had some unfinished business from 2024; specifically the remaining summit on the Ben a’Ghlo ridge, Càrn nan Gabhar, which we missed when conditions and time prevented us from completing the 3-Munro group as a “jetlag reduction” hike at the start of the Glen Tilt trip. Also, flying to EDI allowed us to have a traditional lunch stop at the Loch Leven (previously called Vane Farm) RSPB reserve. On our way from Pitlochry to Achiltibuie we could meet John and Marj Foster for lunch in Inverness. Bob Ingram was going to follow the same route though the Highlands and we arranged to meet him on our second night.

For our second week, we continued with another tradition and booked another holiday let to share with Bob Ingram and Jesper Jorgensen. This time we chose Spean Bridge as the location. Our first choice had been the same place that we used in 2022, but it was already booked and Jesper came across and excellent alternative called Clianba.

So, on Monday, 30 March 2026 we took British Airways from Boston to Edinburgh via London, arriving on 31 March of course. We had reserved a rented a car from Avis with an arrangement to return it to Inverness on 10 April.

There were no issues at Logan with TSA because of goverment shutdown. The only problem was because of a mix up between BA and the border guy – no pre-check for either of us and no record of Gordon’s ticket. It was solved by BA check in desk — they said that Gordon’s two passports had confused the system. We were told to use UK one for outbound and the American one for return (more on this later). The Pre-check numbers re-entered and all was OK.

The flight was on a very empty 787 went well. Dinner was chicken curry (G) and cottage pie (B) ; not too bad for an airline meal. There were no issues in arrival, but or some reason Gordon’s iPad upset the security and had to be scanned separately. Otherwise it was an easy transfer to the ongoing EDI flight which was about 10 mins late in arriving. After landing we had coffee and croissant before collecting the rental car was a blue Kia; we took extra insurance.

So we headed to Pitlochry. Our first stop in accordance with tradition when traveling through Edinburgh Airport, was soup (this year it was lentil) at the RSPB’s Loch Leven reserve. We both had brought binoculars, so we were able to see many birds (e.g. lapwing, black headed gull, greylag geese, pair of swans, pigeons, carrion crow, magpie, 4 pairs of teals, pair of mallards and heard a pheasant). Betsy purchased a note pad for use during the trip.

Arrived at hotel in mid afternoon. It seemed to have been bought by the Westlands next door. It was a nice room. After dropping our bags we shopped at Coop for hiking food, toothpaste, etc. The hotel gave us a voucher for a 10% discount at the Bridge restaurant. We both had venison burger which was very nice. We went straight back to the hotel. The hotel and restaurant seemed to be related; operated by Romanian families that knew each other. Slept ok.

1 April, Wednesday. Pitlochry. Breakfast room very busy – many residents; mostly from Europe and many languages could be heard, but there were some Americans.

The weather forecast was not good, so we delayed our plan to ascend Càrn nan Gabhar for a day and went shopping. After our usual stop at the John Muir Trust office, we bought a Cairngorms guide book, Gordon purchased a new jacket at Mountain Warehouse to replace his venerable REI jacket and then looked for some easy reading. He chose a Peter May story at the used bookstore. Bob sent a text that he had arrived and came over to meet us at Coffee X Break where we had scones and Earl Grey tea. After shopping Bob came back to ge B&B for tea. At that point Betsy saw the text from Joanne that Steve had died in hospital after his surgery. He could not be resuscitated after a “code blue” event. This was big shock. Betsy called Joanne and left a message.

We remembered from 2024 that a train carriage had been parked near the station and at the time it was being converted into a restaurant, so curiosity took over and we booked a table for the three of us there. It is a Thai place in a converted old Norwegian railway carriage and was very good indeed. The carriage had been used as a prop in a Tom Cruise film. The business was run by a husband, his Thai wife an his daughter. We had pad Thai with huge prawns, Mei Lay isecream with berries and a whisky flavour chocolate (handmade).

Things were going well we made excellent progress and we had expectations of an early descent. The paved path went for some distance but then it turned to bog which continued almost all the way to the col below final push up to ridge. This slowed us down a lot. We crossed the burn a few times. the path was laced with white rock as we traversed the side o the hill. The final section below the col was snow and we took our time to reach it.

At this point we were on the “Walkhighlands Route” and following the gpx track on the OS map using the phone. The was ice all the way to the summit. Our spikes were essential, but as usual it was a pin to put them on to our boots. This next section was scary to say the least as one slip would have sent us down to Glen Tilt over some very rocky and nasty surfaces, not to mention a gully. We had left ice axes in the car (mistake), but were confident that by using hiking poles for extra traction and balance we could get to the summit. It was very cold, but that meant the ice was solid and stable. We crossed a very nasty and dangerous ice field below summit, but we took our time and reached the cairn, trig point and actual top. Gordon ate a Snickers bar just before this section and it was a good shot of sugar at the right time.

With some apprehension we set off back the same way. In fact, there was no other feasible route. Walkhighlands describes this descent as “tedious”; even more so because we had already done it in the opposite direction. We were back at the col at 5:37, so it was route march down and we were very late reaching the car at 9:00 pm. We had tried to make contact with Bob, but there was no cell phone coverage. he was worried and had called police, but was able to tell them that all was OK when we returned to hotel at 9:30 and the emergency was cancelled.

It was so late that we skipped dinner in favour of crackers, peanuts, cheese and decaf before to bed. The following day we were to drive to Achilitibuie.

A day to remember. Gordon’s Munro number 151. 131 to go. at this rate he will be 207 years old when he finishes them all! We will never go this summit again and the adventure probably was a reason why we were reluctant to tackle any more serious hills during this trip. Hopefully we can come back in the Autumn on another year.

3 April, Good Friday. We met Bob and drove to Inverness more or less in convoy. We parked at Morrison’s for lunch with John and Marj at the Bella Italia – a place we had used before. Then we visited the supermarket and stocked up with the fruit needed for our dinner contribution the following day. making the cross-country journey via Ullapool and North to Achiltibue along a 15 mile single track road past Stac Pollaidh. Since petrol stations are few and far between in the Assynt region, we filled up with fuel at Morrison’s. That prompted a terrible time working out how to open the fuel cap. So much so that we started to look for Kia drivers to ask how to do it. In the end, Bob saved us by looking it up in the internet. Apparently the car had to be unlocked and then the unlock button on the electronic key had to be pressed before the fuel door could be opened.

It was a bit hard to find the house, which was in Polbain, but we were helped when we met David and Heather coming in the opposite direction. It was also hard to find the Community Centre for dinner because the photo on Phil’s write-up was taken from the side away from the road. When we found it though, we were impressed. It was well equipped and there was a place behind closed doors to store our provisions and booze!

There were nibbles for starters. Dinner was excellent; fish pie followed by crumble cake.

In bed late. Shared house with PB, Heather, Dave, Sue B., Janet. Excellent view towards the Summer Isles. It’s a nice place. However, our bedroom was rather small and we had to use the “office room” as an auxiliary wardrobe where we kept our suitcases and occasionally had to open them during the week.

4 April, Saturday. Today was our day as chefs (with Bob). We had volunteered to make dessert and we repeated the Eton Mess with ice cream from an earlier year. Other courses were caprese salad, and lamb tagine. It was a busy morning preparing the fruit. There was a lot of washing and chopping strawberries. We seemed to have the quantity just about right. There was a small amount of leftovers that we took back to our house for use in breakfasts. Storm Dave was predicted and we were wondering when it would hit us. The car had a covering of snow which we cleared by scraping with cardboard. There was sleet blowing sideways on the drive back from the Village Hall. After warm milk, we slept well.

Earlier in the day, but after our culinary work, we went to the Fisk Gallery which was a short distance down the road. Betsy bought some cards, soap and a scrub bag. Later we visited Dave Brough and Bob’s place – a nice chalet near a group of similar units others several of which were occupied by members of our group. Everybody had good views. It was an opportunity for Betsy to start practice of driving on the left, even though on a single track road there is no right or left.

5 April, Easter Sunday. Lazy day; we woke at 9:00 am and all the others were awake. Breakfast was porridge. Sue provided Easter eggs for the house. The weather all over the place – very windy: sun, sleet, hail, white caps in the sea with high waves, We caught up on notes, talked about craft fairs an art projects with Janet. We did not outdoors except to take photos from the balcony and later for dinner. We didn’t do much else except research on hikes. Betsy noted blackbirds and a robin in the garden. Heather and D6 April. Explored the peninsula around Rieff; could not find the path described in Walkhighlands, but had a nice walk around the small loch as suggested Dave Lydiatt. Checked out a small ruin. Lots of birds. Stopped in for tea with Jeanne and had a nice long chat; ate our lunch there then we went off to another headland for a walk around. Again, the gps did not seem to match the terrain, but we explored and visited a very nice beach.avid explored the hill behind us, as did Phil later.

Dinner was pasta salad, brisket and veg, lemon tart. All good. Peter did a first class job with the beef.

6 April, Monday. Arose at 7:30 and had cereal+coffee. It was a sunny day so we decided to explore the peninsula around Rieff specifically using a gpx obtained from Walkhighlands. The walk started near the cottage occupied by Dave Lydiatt and Jane, plus Jeanne and Dave Kee. Life all of our accommodation it had a great view.

As we arrived we met Dave and Jane as they were leaving. They were not encouraging about the full walk implied by the gpx. One suspects that many of the Walkhighlands routes are not used often, but a nice walk along the nearby coast and a small inland loch was good. This path seemed to start at the same place as the path we planned orignally to follow, so we thought that we would see where it all led.

We had a nice walk around the small loch as suggested by Dave Lydiatt. We watched the surf.

Checked out a small ruin there were some nice rocks with colorful lichen. Also some sheep.

Lots of birds; Betsy noted a robin, greylag geese, meadow pipit, oyster catchers, common shelduck. We could see what appeared to be the Walkhighlands path, but access was obstructed by a fence and the loch so we abandoned the idea. As we returned we found that it was necessary to climb a fence from a field occupied by sheep.

After this stroll we stopped in for tea with Jeanne; we had a nice long chat and ate our per-prepared lunch. The failure prompted us to explore another Walkhighlands gps route which appeared to start after drove to a place a bit further along the coast near Achnahaird. This must have been a bad navigation day, because both of the paths we had planned to follow are shown on the tourist handouts.

It must have been a bad day for navigation, because again we could not find the path. which was also shown on the Tourist brochure, but we did explore the headland where we found another small loch hidden from the road in a dip in the terrain. We also explored a very nice beach at Enard Bay. A man with a fast little dog was playing chuck-it. There was a lot of pinkish rock and no rubbish – very clean. A nice spot.

7 April. This turned into an excellent day; it was warm and there was no prospect of bad weather; we visited the hills behind our house. Birds were chirping and sheep were bleating. We followed the ridge to the radio towers, then walked down the service road to Polglas where we took another road to Old Dornie; lots of activity at a fish farm. Then walked along the coast path around Fox Point. There was an old bothy that now seems to be available for rent. After Dornie the route took us back back to our house.

Richard Bosworth came to dinner accompanied by Melanie and her two boys – Joshua and William. Great to see them. Melanie still remembers calling me “Frankenstein” from 1983. Mandy stayed at their hotel.

Betsy notes seeing the following birds: greylag geese, herring gull, robin, hooded crow, cormorant, meadow pipit, curlew, ouster catchers.

8 April. Boat trip from Lochinver. It was an exciting drive over because we took the shorter route close to the coast. Lochinver has changed a lot since Gordon’s first visit in 1975; there seems to be a large fish processing area. On the day before some of our group had a very good boat trip; they saw dolphins and sea eagles among many things, but the wildlife was shy for us. The eagles were off somewhere else and the dolphins were nowhere to be seen. We made do with a view of the eagle’s nest and a few common seals, Betsy noted tghe following birds: shag, guillemot, oyster catchers,

Very choppy and we were soaked several times. Saw Sea eagle nest and lots of seals, plus some oyster catchers.

Nice lunch at a cafe that announce “Tea and Rooms” where we met Dave B, Annie and Doreen. We had 1/2 sandwich and lentil soup Afterwards visited the Lochinver bookshop which had a very quirky atmosphere. The owner talked to herself while moving books around in preparation for the Assynt Book Festival. Betsy bought some postcards. Next we checked out The Highland Pottery; we have been there a couple of times in the past, but it’s always nice to see what’s changed and what hasn’t. The big sofa and car sculptures made from broken pottery are still there.

We did not fancy following the hair-raising single track road again in our nit very familiar cat, so we took the long way round to return.

Richard, Melanie, and Joshua joined us for dinner. It was our night for clean up duty. All went well and we were congratulated on an excellent job. Others on duty were Jesper, Bob, Phils, Jill.

9 April. The weather forecast was not great, so our plans were limited.

After a huge breakfast and another look at the view, we took a walk to the pier and Tanera Bothy where we had hot chocolate and a piece of flapjack. The person in the building that seemed to be in authority told us that it was not a cafe as someone had said. It is run as a charity, but we could have or snack and make a donation. Soon we were the only people there. Around the room were plenty of displays recalling the local history. We signed the visitor’s book and put some money into the cash box. The establishment seems to be tied to the developers of the resort on the Summer Isles – the local community has mixed feelings about this. Although building was empty, there were lots of cars were parked nearby and adults seemed to be leading a group of children on a beach clean up session.

Betsy noted seeing te following birds: blackbird and robin (on our patio), song thrush, greylag geese, gulls, sparrow,

Back to the house for lunch. Spent the afternoon packing and selecting food for the following week. Put our big bags into Jesper’s car and packed our backpacks for a single night. The plan was to meet Jesper at Inverness airport after we returned the car.

There was the traditional big share out of leftovers at 6:30 pm. Jesper grabbed a lot of beer and two bottles of wine ready for the next week in Spean Bridge. All the booze was added to our expenses sheet so that we could pay for them in the final, reckoning. We actually made use of a huge amount of excess food from bacon to Weetabix and porridge, plus a lot of dairy including masses of cheese.

We loaded our big bags into Jesper’s car ready for the morning and planned to just use what could be stored in backpacks for the one night left.

10 April. After breakfast and tidying up, we packed our rucksacks and said our last goodbyes before driving out for te next week of our trip. At just after 10:00 am we headed to Inverness to drop the car off and meet Jesper. All went to plan. Filled up with fuel at the big Tesco on the way to the airport, bought throat tablets, Fisherman’s Friends, antacids (because of the rather unhealthy diet of the following week!). The car was returned just about 1:00 PM as promised to Avis. We had coffee in the departure area which was filled with people off to sunnier climes including at least one fairly noisy hen party. Jesper met us in terminal building.

The satnav took us on unexpected, but actually good, route avoiding the tourist traffic near Loch Ness. we went south on the A9 for while and then across country along some single track roads to Fort Augustus. Purchased vegetables at Fort Augustus Spar. The three of us had a snack (tea and a croissant) at the lock. After a look in at the Edinburgh Woolen Mill (we thought they had gone out of business) it was an easy drive to Spean Bridge.

The house hard to locate because there were two number 16s in the development. Bob had found arroived earlier and had the same trouble; he had spoken to multiple neighbors in order to find it. It was a good size house with nice gardens. Bob had leared that it had been the home of the owners parents in law originally. The owners lived nearby and also ran a B&B on the main road. The ergonomics of kitchen a bit strange and we speculated that it had been laid out for a wheel chair used, but there are some steps.

Betsy noted the following birds seen during the day: blackbird, oyster catcher, chaffinch, great tit, sparrow.

Had egg salad for dinner – we all agreed that we needed a break from stodgy food.

Gordon has developed a cold and congestion. He didn’t sleep until 2:00 am. It was hard to discern whether this was a result of hay fever or something else. It turned out to be both – switching from Flonase to Allagra solved the sneezing, but the coughing continued.

11 April. Gordon sick. We woke up to a great view of Ben Nevis from house.

It seemed like a day for a gentle walk so we did a partial repeat of a route along the Caledonian Canal towpath that we had taken in 2022, but this time we drove to the start which was at a parking area on the west side of the canal. First we followed towpath to Loch Lochy, it looked the same as in 2022. There were even some of the same boast moored there including the Chinese junk. The canal-boat operators service building is still there and in operation.

We looked at Telford House and noted the “enquiries sign” Hopefully somebody will buy it; the house seems to be ideal for a B&B or hostel. We walked from Gairlochy to Moy bridge. This swinging bridge is the only one that remains from the original canal structures. There is a bothy next to it and the bridge keeper’s house seem to be occupied, It was possible to cross this time, but we walked back along the same route on south side. Last time we did out an back on the north side. We recalled the farm track that had to be negotiated just over the canal and then there was the walk along the road, so we chose to go back the way we had come. On the way out we were passed by a lock keeper on a bike being chased by a dog. Maybe he looks after the Gairlochy Loch and the Moy bridge.

There is plenty online about the history of the canal. Jesper made a nice dinner with wine and we followed it with a taste of Shackleton whisky.

Gordon was still coughing and sneezing. Betsy was sneezing.

12 April. We woke at 8:00 am. Jesper cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast with strong coffee (it was very good). The weather was not good – wind and pouring rain. Gordon was still sick and stayed in bed. Betsy and the others did shopping for dinner at Morrison’s in Fort William. Bob cooked his speciality spaghetti bol. and we had Jesper’s wine to accompany it. Overall this was a very grey day with a few sunny spells shopping and/or staying in bed were the right things to do.

13 April. We woke at 7:00 am to sun and cloud. After a very leisurely breakfast we went Fort William. It was a good day for browsing and we started at Nevisport where we had lunch (soup). Then it was off to the Post Office for stamps and on to the Highland Bookshop where we bought books and cards. Afternoon tea was at the cinema; cake all round. We saw a white Rolls-Royce SUV; very tacky; it seems to be owned by a property developer or something similar as it was parked outside a building under renovation. On the way back we bought pizza at Aldi which was very good value in our opinion. Also, we purchased pasta, milk, yogurt and muesli (supplies left from the previous week were running out).

Not a very exciting day, but we enjoyed the pizza and salad for dinner.

14 April. Jesper had been encouraging us to visit Corrie Ardair and Creag Meadaidh Nature Reserve. However, snow conditions were still against a Munro bagging trip (there are three on the “round”). We packed lunch, tea, etc. for a day of walking on easy terrain.

It was a very good day along a first class path with no mud; the first part is obviously well maintained. It passes a farm that advertised venison, but none was available. The walk up to the Corrie passes birch, beech, Scots pine, heather and ferns. Betsy waxes poetic about the “thunder of spring burns and the blabbing noise of underground water” There was snow in the gullies by the path.

The tops of the mountains were capped with snow. There were huge cornices and gullies wer filled with ice and snow. Jesper recalled some of his adventures ice-climbing in the area. It was a spectacular site. We had lunch next to the lochan. There were two wild swimmers with dogs in the water; it must have been cold – they were making a lot of noise.

Back at the house at a sensible time (unusual for us). Bob reprised the spaghetti bol. we had wine again.

15 April. Muesli and toast for breakfast, plus Jesper’s excellent coffee. As promised and planned earlier, we visited Richard and Mandy. Jesper drove the whole way. we stopped in Fort William to buy some flowers for Mandy. Of course we had fish and chips from the highly rated chippy in Oban. There were also cream filled eclairs an cakes with tea. As you would expect there was excellent conversation and a look outside at the sea. It brought back happy memories of Ganavan in 2022. Even in the rain it felt good to be there. The flat had not been sold. Gordon told them that under other circumstances we would be giving them a cheque on the spot. We set off back to Spean Bridge at 4:30.

16 April. Walk from Lagan Locks and back along old railway. This was a walk that we found in the “Fort William and Lochaber 40 Favourite Walks”. The earlier Caledonian Canal walk was in the same book. ; Jesper wanted to visit the floating pub; station interesting; muddy track for most of way and fallen trees, turns to well maintenance forest track, took a while to find path back to start but worth it. Had remaining two pizzas with salad.

17 April. Wet on and off all day, but we were able to complete a woodland walk from our house. The route was a figure off eight starting and finished at the station. It was one of the trips suggested in the little guide book. We were soaked. Nice but muddy side trails. On the way we saw several dog walkers and talked to one of them who complained about the government and taxes. We stayed quiet. On return to the station we stopped for tea and dessert. We were able to hang our very wet clothes at the door. Jesper had beer. Wet walk back. Hung everything up to dry.

Dinner at the station; very nice, steak pie and mushroom soup for me, others had chicken, haggis.

Back at house we packed for the next day and the drive South.

18 April. Bob drove us to York. Split the remaining food and tidied up. Bought some bits and pieces including phone top up, plants for Gail.

To be continued…..